Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

The Athletic's "200 players to watch at the 2026 World Cup"

The US's Pulisic and Balogun make the list, and the summary of Balogun is appropriate in its faint praise ("actually a below-average finisher" "throughout current coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first year in charge, he battled injuries"). The Guardian has capsule summaries of every player in the tournament, too. 

Also useful:

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Brazil received (at least) two red cards and five yellows in tonight's game against the USWNT (USA won 1-0)

I haven't seen a write-up, and I think maybe that count doesn't include the coaches ejected (Brazil was just relentless in fouling). This morning's NYT headline was prophetic:
The USWNT don’t experience enough hostility, which is why they needed to ‘come to Brazil’

Monday, June 8, 2026

Belgium's jersey ("this is not a jersey") is a Magritte tribute




Ghana's jersey is great, too:

Friday, May 29, 2026

Wonderfully wholesome story about the World Cup





NYT's write-up


In other World Cup news:




And:

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Some good jerseys for the Cherry Bombs




Webstore

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

FYI, the new Nike World Cup jerseys apparently have a comically defective design that makes the shoulders "look a bit" like The Shredder





The US finally has some good-looking jerseys, and:
In a statement to the Guardian, Nike acknowledged the issue with shoulders, and said they’re looking into what can be done about it – if anything.

“During the recent international break, we observed a minor issue with our Nike national team kits, most noticeable around the shoulder seam,” the company said via a spokesperson. “Performance is unaffected, but the overall aesthetic is not where it needs to be.”
...
A source familiar with that design process told the Guardian this week that Nike’s “computational design” is driven by performance data, and incorporates elements of AI to work alongside the company’s designers

Monday, March 16, 2026

The new USA soccer jerseys are great (including the keeper jersey)




This article suggests the jerseys are so much better than the recent ones because the players had much greater participation in the design process than in the past:
Adams jokes that McKennie, “at one point, was coming up with some crazy designs that no one agreed with.”

Monday, March 9, 2026

Masked fan unplugged VAR monitor during German soccer match to try to prevent replay review



"The penalty decision was ultimately made by video referee ... in the VAR room in Cologne", the club said, adding it "regrets the incident and will do everything in its power to identify and bring the perpetrator(s) to justice".

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Wild, frightening story about a soccer manager getting kidnapped in Morocco, thinking he was getting hired

Paul Tenorio for the NYT:

Adrian made some calls to contacts who worked in Saudi Arabia, including Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. They all had good things to say about the club and working in the Saudi leagues. Soon, the agent said the club’s owner wanted to meet with him. He asked if Heath could meet in Morocco, where “the sheikh” had several hotels and other businesses.

...

A plane ticket was sent over for Sunday, November 17, and a reservation was made at a five-star hotel on the Mediterranean Sea.

...

Adrian got on a flight to Tangier via Manchester. When he landed in Morocco on the evening of Nov. 18, two men were there to greet him at the airport. They handed him flowers and then ushered him to a black, four-door sedan and set off for the hotel.

But after about 40 minutes, they turned off the main highway.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

A interview with Diego Luna when he was 16




First US player I've enjoyed watching since Dest got hurt. (Berhalter, too. Please let Pulisic never take another free kick.)

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

The US women scored a very anime-style goal, as if they used the power of friendship; and Luna did the first viral tiktok dance for men











@greenscreens4memes #indonesianboatracing #aura #aurafarming #pacujalur #indonesia ♬ Young Black & Rich - Melly Mike


@kitaofficial.idn Replying to @𓆏 the viral “Aura Farming on Boat” kid from Pacu Jalur Team Tuah Koghi! Now he’s answering our questions 👀🔥 Pacu Jalur, 🇮🇩Indonesia’s living tradition ✨✨ #pacujalur #aurafarming #auradynamics ♬ Young Black & Rich - Melly Mike




A number of Guatemalan fans ran onto the field and one overzealous security guard decided it was her job to blindside deck people. It was, frankly, unnecessary — even if those fans should not be on the field.

— Paul Tenorio (@paultenorio.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 6:11 PM

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Alyssa Thompson's goal tonight

Alyssa Thompson. That is all. #USWNT

[image or embed]

— Our Game Magazine (@ourgamemagazine.bsky.social) June 26, 2025 at 7:39 PM


(On like four consecutive plays on the left side, she did something completely different yet successful.)

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Wemby playing soccer

@thescore

Watching Wemby play soccer at 7’4” is something else 😅 [via CourtsideBuzzX/X]

♬ original sound - thescore



Also, this:

@mlb that’s what we call a tall drink of water #oregonducks #collegebaseball #jasonreitz @oregonducksbaseball ♬ Beat Way Up - Type Beats Trap